Olympic Games: A city-garden for Paris 2024 Media Village

SOLIDEO, the State-owned company in charge of delivering Olympic venues for the Paris 2024 Games, launched a public consultation about the Media Village on October 2, 2019 at the headquarters of the French newspaper “L’Equipe”. The project is part of a larger development area designed as the “garden city” of the 21st century.

“How to connect these large open areas, in Dugny, Le Bourget and La Courneuve? We are going to build in a wide natural place. In this sense, the notion of garden city comes into force” introduced Nicolas Ferrand, Executive Director of SOLIDEO (the State-owned company in charge of delivering Olympic venues for the Paris 2024 Games) at the launch of the Media Village public consultation on 2 October at the headquarters of the newspaper L’Equipe in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine). SOLIDEO introduced officials, real estate developers and executives from public institutions with the huge operation of the Media cluster: 3 main areas spanning over 3 municipalities in the Seine-Saint-Denis department (Northern suburb of Paris).

TVK and UrbanEco have been appointed as general contractors for the 70-hectare project (132,000 sqm of buildings). The objectives are to strengthen links between municipalities, to connect open spaces and to drive urban development in a “garden city” approach.

Landscaping, the development of green spaces with a 13-hectare extension of Georges-Valbon Park and redevelopment of Le Bourget sports and school park are at the heart of the project.

Village and Legacy

The Media Village will cover an area of 96,000 sqm and accommodate approximately 4,000 journalists and technicians. It will include 1,300 family accommodations which, after the Games, will remain as a legacy. 20% of social housing is planned.

During the Games, the venue will also host facilities for volleyball and shooting competitions through temporary installations in Le Bourget sports park and Georges-Valbon Park.

The main Media centre – where 25,000 journalists will work during the event – will be located in the premises of Paris-Le Bourget Exhibition Centre. “About 2,800 journalists will stay in the Media Village, they will take pictures, tweet, and what they see may be their only vision of Paris, France and the Olympic venues during their stay, so it is the image of France in the world that we are building here.”, tells Nicolas Ferrand.

Stakeholders strike the pose in front of the model of the Media Village.

One Village, 2 contracts

“30 minutes away from Châtelet, future inhabitants will benefit from the same level of services as those in the centre of Paris,” added the director of SOLIDEO. The future Village will be located near the Stade de France, Le Bourget first business airport and future stations of Grand Paris Express metro lines 16 and 17.

The project in legacy stage will aim at securing diversified residential opportunities and offer specific accommodations for students, elderly, etc. It will also include 1,000 sqm of shops, a 40-bed crèche, schools, a gym and spaces for economic activities developed after the Games.

The Media Village has been divided into two contracts:

the first sector (61,500 sqm) divided into three areas for a minimum land charge of 20.5 million euros

the “Plateau” sector (29,500 sqm) for a minimum land charge of 9.7 million euros.

Applicants will have to apply as a group that will include a representative and a project team responsible for operational implementation. The representative of a group may not submit several offers for the same site.

2019-2020 Calendar

1st phase – application:

13 November 2019, submission of application files

4 December 2019, selection of candidates selected for the second phase.

2nd phase – offer:

from January to the end of March 2020, working session with the candidates, in the form of workshops

April 2020, submission of offers

May 2020, selection of winners

June 2020, signature of agreements to sell

4th quarter 2020, submission of building permits

3rd quarter 2021, start of building sites

Applicant teams must include at least one investor, one real estate developer, a consulting firm specialised in sustainability, an environmental expert, one residence manager and additional experts.

The Media Cluster

The Media Cluster includes three other developments, starting with a new crossing of the A1 motorway to link Le Bourget sports and school park to the new Media Village district and Georges Valbon Park, the third largest park in Paris Region with 400 hectares. Connected to the north of Greater Paris thanks to tramway 11, the district will be dedicated, once the Games are over, to the promotion and education about biodiversity.

Le Bourget sports and school park, south of the Media Village, will include facilities such as a gymnasium, two football fields, an athletics track, a tennis complex, two new schools and the reconstruction of the swimming pool.

Paris 2024 Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11, Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8, 2024.